Related

MONTREAL — About 72,500 households and businesses across Quebec remained without electricity late afternoon Saturday, Hydro-Quebec said after heavy snows blanketed large swaths of the province during a Friday storm.

The snowstorm left Montreal Island and Laval relatively unscathed, with a total fall there of about five centimetres Friday and less than that amount Saturday.

However, the tempest dumped at least 50 cm in the Charlevoix region, along with substantial quantities elsewhere.

The Laurentians, Lanaudière and Outaouais regions were among the areas hit hardest, Hydro-Quebec said.

In a 5:15 p.m. bulletin Saturday, the utility said that at its peak, the storm had cut about 120,000 customers from its grid.

A total of 62,600 customers had been reconnected after losing power since the storm's start, the bulletin added.

A utility official attributed most of the outages to falling tree branches, which knocked out power lines.

In other instances, a statement added, "equipment was damaged by gusts of wind," which at least in the Charlevoix had been forecast to reach 100 km/h at the height of Friday's storm.

The utility was bringing in crews from other regions to help speed up the reconnection work.

It said it had more than 600 employees on repair assignments.

However, it noted, "conditions are making the work difficult."

While Hydro wasn’t immediately prepared to promise when services would be fully restored, it said "a good part" of the restorations should be completed by Sunday night.

In less accessible areas, it suggested, reconnections might not be completed until Monday night.

Road conditions in the regions were also, in many cases, proving difficult.

CORRECTION: Incorrect figures were used in an earlier version of this story.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.